Israel, US react sharply to sanctions against Israeli ministers by 5 nations
Israel has reacted sharply to sanctions imposed on two of its ministers by the governments of five nations. The United States has also criticized the move.
Britain, Canada, Norway, Australia and New Zealand on Tuesday announced sanctions targeting Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, including a freeze on their assets and travel bans.
In a joint statement, the five countries accused the ministers of "inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank." They also said that the measures "focus on the West Bank, but of course this cannot be seen in isolation from the catastrophe in Gaza."
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on the same day rejected the decision, calling it "outrageous," and adding that the Israeli government would hold a meeting next week to decide on its response to the measures.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the five-nation's move on social media, saying the measures do not advance US-led efforts to achieve a ceasefire.
Meanwhile, media in Gaza reported on Wednesday that more than 20 people were killed as Israeli forces opened fire near a US-backed aid distribution center in the enclave.
The United Nations has harshly criticized a series of attacks near food distribution sites, saying that Israel must "allow the UN safe and unhindered access to bring in aid and distribute it safely."
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Japan Today
2 hours ago
- Japan Today
UN votes overwhelmingly to demand Gaza ceasefire, hostage release and aid access
A Palestinian carries a bag containing food and humanitarian aid delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed organization, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana) By EDITH M. LEDERER U.N. member nations voted overwhelmingly Thursday to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages held by Hamas, and unrestricted access for the delivery of desperately needed food to 2 million Palestinians. The vote in the 193-member General Assembly was 149-12 with 19 abstentions. It was adopted with a burst of applause. The resolution, drafted by Spain, 'strongly condemns any use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.' Speaking before the vote, Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon vehemently opposed the resolution. He denied that Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war, calling the accusation 'blood libel,' and insisted that aid is being delivered. Experts and human rights workers say hunger is widespread in Gaza and some 2 million Palestinians are at risk of famine if Israel does not fully lift its blockade and halt its military campaign, which it renewed in March after ending a ceasefire with Hamas. At the start of Thursday's meeting, Spain's U.N. Ambassador Héctor José Gómez Hernández urged members to vote in favor of the resolution in light of 'the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.' The Palestinian U.N. ambassador, Riyad Mansour, also pleaded with U.N. members to vote in favor. 'The actions you take today to stop the killing, displacement and the famine will determine how many more Palestinian children die a horrible death,' he said. Last week, the U.N. Security Council failed to pass a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and calling on Israel to lift all restrictions on the delivery of aid. The United States vetoed the resolution because it was not linked to the release of the hostages, while all 14 other members of the council voted in favor. There are no vetoes in the 193-member General Assembly. But unlike in the Security Council, assembly resolutions are not legally binding, though they are seen as a barometer of world opinion. After a 10-week blockade that barred all aid to Gaza, Israel is allowing the United Nations to deliver a trickle of food assistance and is backing a newly created U.S. aid group, which has opened several sites in the center and south of the territory to deliver food parcels. But the aid system rolled out last month by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been troubled by near-daily shootings as crowds make their way to aid sites, while the longstanding U.N.-run system has struggled to deliver food because of Israeli restrictions and a breakdown of law and order. Like the failed Security Council resolution, the resolution passed on Thursday does not condemn Hamas' deadly attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which ignited the war, or say the militant group must disarm and withdraw from Gaza. Both are U.S. demands. Acting U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea told the assembly before the vote that the resolution 'sends an unacceptable message to Hamas and other Iran-backed terrorist proxies, and that message is, you will be rewarded for taking hostages, diverting aid and launching attacks from civilian areas.' The resolution references a March 28 legally binding order by the top United Nations court for Israel to open more land crossings into Gaza for food, water, fuel and other supplies. The International Court of Justice issued the order in a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of acts of genocide in its war in Gaza, charges Israel strongly denies. The resolution stresses that Israel, as an occupying power, has an obligation under international law to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those in need. It reiterates the assembly's commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the Gaza Strip as part of a Palestinian state. The assembly is holding a high-level meeting next week to push for a two-state solution, which Israel has rejected. The resolution supports mediation efforts by Egypt, Qatar and the United States aimed at implementing a January ceasefire agreement. The Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages. About 55 hostages are still being held. Israel's military campaign has killed over 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It says women and children make up most of the dead, but doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed more than 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Times
17 hours ago
- Japan Times
Israel appears ready to attack Iran, officials in U.S. and Europe say
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Trump waved off another plan by Israel several months ago to attack Iran, insisting that he wanted a chance to negotiate a deal with Tehran that would choke off Iran's ability to produce more nuclear fuel for a bomb. Two weeks ago, Trump said he had warned Netanyahu about launching a strike while U.S. negotiations with Iran were under way. It is not clear how much effort Trump made to block Netanyahu again this time, but the president has appeared less optimistic in recent days about the prospects for a diplomatic settlement after Iran's supreme leader rejected an administration proposal that would have effectively phased out Iran's ability to enrich uranium on its soil. Netanyahu has walked up to bombing Iran's nuclear facilities in the past, only to back off at the last minute. Word of the U.S. decisions to withdraw personnel from the region, along with a warning from Britain about new threats to Middle East commercial shipping, came hours after Trump told The New York Post in a podcast released Wednesday that he had grown "less confident' about the prospects for a deal with Iran that would limit its ability to develop nuclear weapons. Steve Witkoff, the White House special envoy to the Middle East, listens to U.S. President Donald Trump during his swearing-in ceremony in Washington on May 6. | Eric Lee / The New York Times American and Iranian negotiators have been planning to meet Sunday for another round of talks, although Trump told reporters Monday that Iran had adopted an "unacceptable' negotiating position. As of Wednesday, Trump's envoy to the talks, Steve Witkoff, was still planning to attend the negotiations in Oman, officials said. Asked about the reason for the departures of U.S. personnel and dependents from the region as he arrived at the Kennedy Center in Washington for a Wednesday evening performance of "Les Miserables,' Trump told reporters, "Well, you're going to have to figure that one out yourself.' The British warning came from a maritime trade agency that monitors Middle East shipping and that said in a public advisory that it had "been made aware of increased tensions within the region which could lead to an escalation of military activity having a direct impact on mariners.' The advisory urged commercial vessels transiting the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz to use heightened caution. Iranian military and government officials have already met to discuss their response to a potential Israeli strike, according to a senior Iranian official. The official said that Tehran had devised a response plan that would involve an immediate counterstrike on Israel with hundreds of ballistic missiles. In October 2024, a major Iranian missile assault against Israel related to the war in the Gaza Strip inflicted limited damage, however, in part because of U.S. assistance in intercepting the missiles. Trump spoke by phone Monday with Netanyahu, but the White House disclosed few details about the conversation. Trump had met on Sunday evening at Camp David with his national security team. Iran's defense minister, Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh, raised alarms Wednesday with a warning that, in the event of a conflict following failed nuclear talks, the United States would suffer heavy losses. "America will have to leave the region because all its military bases are within our reach and we will, without any consideration, target them in the host countries,' he told reporters. People walk past an anti-U.S. mural in Tehran on May 11. | West Asia News Agency / via REUTERS Iranian officials also balked at remarks Tuesday by Gen. Michael E. Kurilla, the head of Central Command. Kurilla testified before a House committee that he had presented Trump and Hegseth "a wide range of options' for a potential strike against Iran. Kurilla had been scheduled to testify again Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee, but his testimony was postponed without explanation. Iran's mission to the U.N. denounced Kurilla's comments in a Wednesday social media post as "militarism' that "fuels instability.' The tough talk came amid a week of meetings in Vienna by the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors. The United States, Britain, France and Germany have submitted a resolution to the agency that would censure Iran for rapidly advancing its nuclear program and violating other commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal brokered with those countries, along with China and Russia. The board is expected to vote on the censure resolution on Thursday morning. Censure could be grounds for the U.N. Security Council to restore, or "snap back,' heavy economic sanctions on Tehran that were lifted as part of the 2015 deal, which was struck by the Obama administration. Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from that agreement in 2018, a move that Iran says gave it license to abandon its commitments to limit its nuclear activity. The deal's European parties insist that it remains enforceable through restored sanctions. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said on social media on Wednesday that censure "will compel Iran to react STRONGLY.' The State Department did not provide details on how many personnel would be removed from Iraq, or why. The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that nonessential U.S. personnel would be withdrawn from Baghdad, and that nonessential personnel and family members of diplomats had been authorized to depart from U.S. embassies in Bahrain and Kuwait. The military dependents authorized to depart the Middle East are largely from Navy and Marine families in Bahrain, home to a major U.S. naval base, a senior Navy official said. Iran's atomic program has progressed dramatically since Trump abandoned the 2015 deal. Analysts say that Iran is now on the brink of being able to manufacture enough nuclear material to fuel 10 nuclear weapons. Constructing a workable device, if Iran chose to pursue that option, could take several more months. But many top Israeli officials already consider Iran's progress to be unacceptable and have openly threatened military action against its nuclear facilities. 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Yomiuri Shimbun
20 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
US Slams UN Conference on Israel-Palestinian Issue, Warns of Consequences
Reuters A military vehicle manoeuvres in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, June 10, 2025. REUTERS PARIS/WASHINGTON, June 11 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is discouraging governments around the world from attending a U.N. conference next week on a possible two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, according to a U.S. cable seen by Reuters. The diplomatic demarche, sent on Tuesday, says countries that take 'anti-Israel actions' following the conference will be viewed as acting in opposition to U.S. foreign policy interests and could face diplomatic consequences from Washington. The demarche, which was not previously reported, runs squarely against the diplomacy of two close allies France and Saudi Arabia, who are co-hosting the gathering next week in New York that aims to lay out the parameters for a roadmap to a Palestinian state, while ensuring Israel's security. 'We are urging governments not to participate in the conference, which we view as counterproductive to ongoing, life-saving efforts to end the war in Gaza and free hostages,' read the cable. President Emmanuel Macron has suggested France could recognise a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territories at the conference. French officials say they have been working to avoid a clash with the U.S., Israel's staunchest major ally. 'The United States opposes any steps that would unilaterally recognise a conjectural Palestinian state, which adds significant legal and political obstacles to the eventual resolution of the conflict and could coerce Israel during a war, thereby supporting its enemies,' the cable read. The United States for decades backed a two-state solution between the Israelis and the Palestinians that would create a state for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza alongside Israel. Trump, in his first term, was relatively tepid in his approach to a two-state solution, a longtime pillar of U.S. Middle East policy. The Republican president has given little sign of where he stands on the issue in his second term. But on Tuesday, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, a long-time vocal supporter of Israel, said he did not think an independent Palestinian state remained a U.S. foreign policy goal. GAZA WAR 'Unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state would effectively render Oct. 7 Palestinian Independence Day,' the cable read, referring to when Palestinian Hamas militants carried out a cross-border attack from Gaza on Israel in 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Hamas' attack triggered Israel's air and ground war in Gaza in which almost 55,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of the 2.3 million population displaced and the enclave widely reduced to rubble. If Macron went ahead, France, home to Europe's largest Jewish and Muslim communities, would become the first Western heavyweight to recognise a Palestinian state. This could lend greater momentum to a movement hitherto dominated by smaller nations generally more critical of Israel. Macron's stance has shifted amid Israel's intensified Gaza offensive and escalating violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, and there is a growing sense of urgency in Paris to act now before the idea of a two-state solution vanishes forever. The U.S. cable said Washington had worked tirelessly with Egypt and Qatar to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, free the hostages and end the conflict. 'This conference undermines these delicate negotiations and emboldens Hamas at a time when the terrorist group has rejected proposals by the negotiators that Israel has accepted.' This week Britain and Canada, also G7 allies of the United States, were joined by other countries in placing sanctions on two Israeli far-right government ministers to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring the Gaza war to an end. 'The United States opposes the implied support of the conference for potential actions including boycotts and sanctions on Israel as well as other punitive measures,' the cable read. Israel has repeatedly criticised the conference, saying it rewards Hamas for the attack on Israel, and it has lobbied France against recognising a Palestinian state. 'Nothing surprises me anymore, but I don't see how many countries could step back on their participation,' said a European diplomat, who asked for anonymity due to the subject's sensitivity. 'This is bullying, and of a stupid type.' The U.S. State Department and the French Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
